San Marcos - Buda - Kyle Edition | June 2023

News from San Marcos, Buda & Kyle CITY & COUNTY Revised police contract enacted in San Marcos

San Marcos City Council will meet June 20, July 18 at 6 p.m. 630 E. Hopkins St., San Marcos 512-393-8000 www.sanmarcostx.gov Kyle City Council will meet June 20, July 18 at 7 p.m. 100 W. Center St., Kyle 512-262-1010 • www.cityoyle.com Buda City Council will meet June 20 and July 18 at 6 p.m., 405 E. Loop St., Buda 512-312-0084 • www.budatx.gov Hays County Commissioners Court will meet June 20 and July 11 at 9 a.m. 111 E. San Antonio St., San Marcos 512-393-2205 www.hayscountytx.com MEETINGS WE COVER water main and a force main to the scope of work on the project. Construction began in October 2022 and consists of a berm—or ood wall structure—to mitigate ood waters that build up between River Road and the Blanco River during ood events. A relief channel is also planned to divert water downstream o of Hwy. 80 as part of the project. BUDA The Buda Economic Development Corp. entered into an agreement with the city of Buda to expand its oce within City Hall to accommodate growing sta May 16. According to agenda documents, the overall cost of the expansion will be $46,232 which will cover demolition, construction of two doors between the oces, wiring for electrical in two oces, paint, drywall repair in one oce and personnel furniture. NUMBER TO KNOW is the year-to- date amount of actual expenses for the city of San Marcos. The city had projected—and budgeted for—more than $108.9 million in expenses and received $63.70 million in actual revenues. $45.10 M HIGHLIGHTS SAN MARCOS The local state of disaster order issued in March 2020 will be terminated by June 30, according to a vote to lift it by City Council. The declaration provided authority for council to address public health and safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This declaration particularly gave renters in the community more leeway in rent payment delinquency, including a requirement that landlord’s provide tenants with 90-day notice prior to issuing a notice to vacate if that delinquency on rent payments was due to COVID-19-related issues. SAN MARCOS A change order for $1.98 million for the contractor conducting work on the Blanco Riverine Flood Mitigation project was approved May 16 to add a reclaimed

BY ERIC WEILBACHER

and the San Marcos Police Ocers’ Association brought forth a new meet and confer agreement after the former contract was repealed in February, following a petition eort led by local activist group Mano Amiga and a Feb. 7 City Council vote. • That eort pushed ve reform proposals to increase police over- sight and transparency, including ending a 180-day rule preventing ocer discipline eorts after that time frame, ending delays of interviews for misconduct investigations and more. The takeaway: Council members discussed both the progress made in the new agreement and also griev- ances with the way the whole process played out. “I think this is a fair agreement. I really do,” Council Member Mark Gleason said. “And I think both sides got some things they wanted and some things that they didn’t.” Gleason was referring to the sugges- tion that Mano Amiga has stated it will push to repeal the contract again, this time to revoke the meet and confer proceedings and place police ocers under the same provisions in state law that other city sta—with the excep- tion of reghters—are hired under. Garza outlined several reasons for

A NEW CONTRACT While many of the reforms pushed by activists that brought a repeal of the September police contract remain elusive, the new contract has the following updated provisions: 1 Arbitration will be limited in disciplinary appeals compared to civil service law. 2 A new performance review system for promotions will consider letters of reprimand. 3 Livestreaming of negotiation meetings is now allowed. 4 The new agreement spans June 8, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2026, and allows for a one-year extension. 5 Modications were made to a civil service 180-day rule during which the police chief must conclude disciplinary action.

SAN MARCOS After several months of negotiations, a new contract between the city and the San Marcos Police Ocers’ Association was approved May 16. The vote passed council by a 6-1 vote with Council Member Alyssa Garza providing the dissenting vote. The context: This comes after months of negotiations between the city and police association along with a successful citizens petition eort to revoke a previously approved meet and confer contract approved in September. • That contract would have been in place through September 2025. • Three months of negotiations between the city of San Marcos

“I want to focus on how we move forward. It doesn’t mean that because this agreement goes into place that there’s still not work to be done. ... [We’re] committed to open dialogue with our community members.” CITY MANAGER STEPHANIE REYES WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

SOURCE: CITY OF SAN MARCOS COMMUNITY IMPACT

choosing to vote against the con- tract, including the way the process transpired, she said. “Instead of having a dialogue to ensure our neighbors, all our neighbors on either side, had a fuller understanding of the contract and the process to learn from each other, ... all of this could have been avoided with open dialogue,” she said.

Kyle Urgent Care site plan approved

Residents aected by development to hear from city on relocation

Properties condemned Six homes within Quail Ridge Drive will be displaced by the new road.

BY AMIRA VAN LEEUWEN

KYLE A site plan was approved for a Kyle Urgent Care cen- ter that will be located at 4580 S. FM 1626 on May 16. The Kyle Planning and Zoning Commission voted 6-0 to approve the site plan, which is zoned for an urgent care facility and restaurant. According to agenda docu- ments, the urgent care facility will be 3,000 square feet, and the restaurant will be about 2,000 square feet. The next step in the process will be for building permits to be reviewed and approved.

BY AMIRA VAN LEEUWEN

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KYLE Quail Ridge residents who will be displaced by the Limestone Creek development were mailed relocation letters May 5. The background: The communica- tion with residents comes nearly two months after the council approved the development agreement. The residents reside in Council Member Yvonne Flores-Cale’s District 2. The city of Kyle will receive $135,000 for consulting costs related to the acquisition of property relating to the Limestone Creek Development from

QUAIL RIDGE DR.

SOURCE: CITY OF KYLECOMMUNITY IMPACT

the developer, Meritage Homes of Texas LLC. What’s next: Relocation specialists will make phone calls to set up the initial visits with the aected property owners.

SAN MARCOS BUDA KYLE EDITION • JUNE 2023